Three years later, Rivera is playing in March once again. It may no longer be Division I, but the senior guard has Montevallo think­ing big.

"I won't be one-and-done like I was at Binghamton," Rivera said.

The Falcons (24-7) claimed an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tour­nament with a 70-57 win over Columbus State on Sunday. The Peach Belt Conference title -- the Fal­cons' first in just their third year in the league -- earned them the right to host the Southeast Regional, which begins today and continues Sunday and Tuesday. The winner advances to the Elite Eight.

Montevallo, ranked 22nd in the NABC/Division II Coaches Poll, is making its third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament after falling in the second round last year.

But it will be the first time the Falcons have had Rivera for a postseason run. The 6-foot-4 Philadelphia na­tive's career at Binghamton came to an end in Septem­ber 2009.

That's when Rivera and five other players were kicked out of the program after a series of off-court in­cidents. Rivera faced up to 13 years in prison for of­fenses relating to his use of a stolen debit card: two felony counts of criminal posses­sion of stolen property, fourth-degree felony grand larceny and a misdemeanor petit larceny charge.

Rivera, who admitted to finding the card and using it to spend nearly $700 at Manley's Mighty Mart and Walmart in Vestal, N.Y., pleaded guilty last March to felony fourth-degree crimi­nal possession of stolen property. He received a con­ditional discharge, under which he must avoid any vi­olations of the law until Jan. 10, 2013.

Rivera joined Montevallo this season. So far, the change of scenery has gone well; the team's leading scorer ranks seventh in the country with 21.7 points per game.

"Just a new start is what I pictured, being able to play basketball again, regardless of the division," Rivera said. "It's a blessing, and I'm try­ing to take full advantage of it."

Falcons coach Danny Young said he's been im­pressed by Rivera, who is working to earn a degree in sociology. The scoring cer­tainly doesn't hurt.

"We knew he was going to do that when he came in," Young said.

After a 3-0 start, Monte­vallo lost 5-10 senior guard Antoine Davis, the team's second-leading scorer (13.5 ppg), to a broken left leg for two months, forcing Rivera to shoulder even more of the offensive load. Davis re­turned in a Jan. 19 loss to Armstrong and has given the Falcons a boost.

"Defense, rebounding, scoring, the assists -- he does everything," Young said of Davis, the PBC tour­nament MVP and the league's defensive player of the year.